RvBMorality
by ChaosHybrid
Summary: After a Freelancer's ambitions cause events too spiral out of control, the Reds and Blues find themselves once again on the brink of destruction. Post-Season 10.
1. Not So Friendly Fire

**Time: 0400 Hours (4AM)**

**Location: RT-636 "**_**Mother of Invention**_**"**

It was a quiet morning.

The usual early-morning staff went around attending their duties. No Freelancers were away on missions. The Director was actually sleeping.

All in all, it was a peaceful morning...

... Until the Director's alarm went off early.

Seeing the time, the Director had decided the Agents had slept long enough, and instructed F.I.L.S.S to activate the alarms in all living quarters on the ship.

The alarm was... Annoying. It sounded like an old, 21st Century air raid siren, only louder and accompanied by flashing red lights.

When the alarm activated, Freelancer Agent Nevada, currently 24th on the board, shrieked and leaped out of her bed, ready for a fight.

"FILSS, what's going on?" she asked while hurrying to find something to wear more substantial than the tank top and shorts she wore to sleep.

"Wake up call, Agent Nevada," the AI replied calmly.

Nevada froze with her Project Freelancer-issue t-shirt halfway down her head.

"Oh," she said.

Agent Minnesota pulled on his standard issue shirt and sweats, irritated by the fact that the alarm had woken him up. He looked at his now robotic right arm as if it were a tumor. The flesh around the metal had gone red and swollen, and almost seemed like it was an allergic reaction to the metal itself. Of course, the medics assured him it was "natural" and that his body just needed to adjust to the robotics as if it were his old arm...

... and then there was the recent matter of the alarm going off. Wash, who had been recently moved to share a room with North and Minnesota, usually slept with a loaded gun under his bunk. North had managed to wrestle the gun off of him though when F.I.L.S.S informed them of the "wake-up call", but Wash had still put a bullet into North's pillow and most likely freaked out the others with the gunshot.

The alarm continued on as the Director stood on the bridge of the RT-636. He had his coffee, he had his "good" night sleep, and now his crew was awake... Time to get to work.

"F.I.L.S.S, let Agents Nevada, Minnesota, and North Dakota know they are too be in the briefing room by 0500."

"Yes, Director."

The Director looked over the mission he had set out for the Agents, and smiled as one particular candidate came too mind.

"Inform Samantha that she is too meet me in the briefing room immediately."

"Director, Samantha is currently in-"

The Director turned around and the smile was no longer present on his face.

"Just do it, F.I.L.S.S."

"Of course, Director."

With that, the Director began making his way to the briefing room, already knowing what would need to be done.

Nevada continued dressing, blushing furiously at her earlier assumption. It would be perfectly reasonable in most other places, but here...

She shrugged it off. It wasn't her fault the Director used an air raid siren for an alarm clock!

...and yet her cheeks still burned red. Ignoring the muffled bang coming from somewhere in the guy's portion of the quarters, Nevada quickly arranged her short, rat's nest hair into something more practical

"Agents Minnesota, North Dakota and Nevada, report to the bridge by 0500," F.I.L.S.S announced. "Samantha Paladray, please report to the briefing room."

Nevada sighed. She turned to Kentucky, still asleep in the bunk next to hers (she was well-acquainted with loud noises while she slept) and tried to gently shake her awake. She was more susceptible to contact.

"Kenni? Kenni, I'm leaving," Nevada whispered. Her friend grunted in response and rolled away. Nevada pouted. Well, whatever. Kentucky could figure it out on her own.

She headed out of her room, entering the mostly abandoned halls and greeting a few Freelancers who had been woken by the commotion and could not fall back asleep. When she arrived, she recalled the last part of F.I.L.S.S.'s message.

"Samantha, huh..."

North and Minnesota arrived shortly after Nevada did, the latter yawning in his helmet. North looked past Nevada to see a woman with dark red hair, lightly tanned skin, and ice blue eyes. She wore the same suit that the technicians wore, but it was clear as day that a knife had been used to cut a portion out to show some of her cleavage. North shook his head in mock amusement. He knew this woman's game.

"I see your being adventurous as always, Sammy. Tech work keepin' you busy?"

In response, Samantha simply shot him a death glare that quickly shifted from North to Minnesota before finally falling on Nevada. She smiled and walked up to the girl, basically towering over her.

"So this is the standards of a Freelancer these days? Listen kid, why don't you go back to your sandbox and let the adults deal with this."

Samantha looked Nevada up and down before smiling and walking back to stand by the Director, staring at Nevada the entire time.

Nevada frowned, happy for the helmet hiding her reaction. Ok, so maybe she did have the general appearance of a fifteen-year-old, was one of the most childish of the Freelancers and _completely_ flat in contrast to the showy woman in front of her, but still... um...

Well, it's just bad manners to throw that in someone's face. She didn't like this new girl.

"You must be Samantha," Nevada replied calmly, trying for maturity. She couldn't think of anything to come after that, so she decided to leave it. It sounded sort of snarky enough though, right?

North rolled his eyes and stepped up beside her.

"Yeah, that's Sammy alright. Feel free to ignore her. She's just jealous someone half her size managed to beat her out for an agent position."

The Director cleared his throat to speak, impatience visible in his tense form.

"That's enough. We came here for a reason."

The Director pressed a button on the table, causing a holographic city to appear...

... Along with the same building that North, Nevada, and Minnesota wanted to have no memory of. Samantha looked at Nevada and smiled sadistically.

"How's your friends arm, Ironing Board?" North tensed up in an attempt not too lunge at the woman.

It really took Nevada longer than it should have to understand the insult -the 'ironing board' bit anyway. She automatically crossed her arms over her chest, but before she could respond, North spoke.

"Hey, Sammy. I think the Director wants to get on with the meeting," he practically growled.

_How cute... She's self-conscious... This should be fun..._

The Director finished putting in the codes on the table and a pulsing beacon appeared on the top floor of a building. This situation was all too familiar, and the last time they had walked in completely unprepared, and it had cost an agent their arm.

"A recovery beacon was set off at this location, belonging to Agent Arkansas." North tensed up, knowing the situation already.

"Sir, isn't Arkansas away on leave?" The Director simply nodded his reply before typing in another code, this time bringing up four red dots.

"Agents North, Minnesota, and Nevada are too infiltrate the building from this landing pad while Ms. Paladray sets up for overwatch." The dots quickly moved, with three of them moving to said landing pad and the other moving on top of another building.

"Team A will then continue until reaching the top floor. Once there, you are to discover the source of the beacon and recover any assets of Project Freelancer. This is a _stealth_ mission. You are only to blow cover when absolutely necessary. Do I make myself _one-hundred percent_ clear?"

"Yes, sir," the three agents chorused automatically.

"Don't you have these dogs well-trained?" Samantha muttered before saying, louder, "Yes, sir."

"Good," the Director replied. "You've been here before, this should be easy. Dismissed."

The agents, as well as Samantha, filed out of the room, heading for the armory.

North took a pistol and his sniper rifle, Minnesota took a battle rifle and an SMG, Nevada took a DMR, a plasma pistol... and two LOTUS anti-tank mines which she fit to her back.

"Real stealthy," Sam noted.

"Considering previous experiences, I prefer to err on the side of caution," Nevada replied, taking the silencer offered to her by North and fitting it to her DMR.

"Well, I guess it isn't every mission where you blow your friend's arm off, is it?"

Samantha grinned sadistically. York had told her, and she enjoyed visualizing how it must have looked. She had sent a therapist into an asylum crying for his mother with such a thought.

Samantha allowed the two younger agents to leave first, and as she was about the leave, North held her by the shoulder.

"None of your usual shit, Samantha. These two have had enough bad shit happen to them as it is, they don't need your particular brand of it."

Samantha managed to get herself loose from his grasp.

"I don't keep promises North... Not anymore."

North cringed.

_She's _still _upset about that?_

"Look, Sam, I said I wa-"

"That won't fix it, North. You know that"

Samantha quickly walked after the other two with North soon following behind.

Minnesota looked at the battle rifle in his hands, unsure of what to do. These people were his friend... weren't they?

Minnesota had been so caught up in his thoughts he walked straight into the side of the Pelican they were supposed to get on.

Nevada giggled, and grabbed Minnesota's hand to guide him into the transport where 479-er was waiting, arms crossed.

"You better not have put a dent in my ship," she said.

Minnesota just nodded awkwardly and sat himself down on the right side of the ship, Nevada making herself comfortable next to him.

Sam walked in, grinned, and sat down right next to Nevada.

North entered the Pelican and sat across from Samantha, neither making eye contact with the other. About 5 minutes later, the ship took off. Samantha looked at Nevada.

"Still can't believe they let a kid into the Project... But I guess when the Director wanted to test that implantation thing he _did_ need a body that was still developing..."

Samantha lightly tapped Nevada's chest plate, not letting her younger counterpart forget what was underneath the armor.

"Or maybe even _under_developed?"

Minnesota was quiet. Which wasn't natural for him. He was usually shy, but talkative around Nevada and North, and Sam alone wouldn't be able to hinder that _too _much...

Nevada slapped Sam's hand away, blushing furiously behind her visor. She was too distracted by Sam to notice her friend's unusual behaviour.

"I am twenty-one," she informed Sam. "I finished with puberty a while ago, thank you." She looked away from the older woman, unwilling to meet her eyes and unwilling to ask North for help.

"How does a twenty-one year old end up with these?" Sam asked, putting both hands firmly on Nevada's chest plating, which admittedly looked a lot more like the men's armour albeit smaller.

Nevada froze and squeaked loudly.

"Come on, Sam. Leave her alone." North looked about ready to stand up and seperate the two women, but didn't.

"Just curious is all North. Who knows, maybe one day she'll be able to wear armor that was actually made for a woman..." The woman got up and made for the cockpit, but stopped when she got too the doorway.

"And North? One more thing." Samantha turned her head so that Nevada and North could see the cold glare she was giving to North.

"If you ever stare at my cleavage again, North, I will do to you what I did to David." With that, Sam entered the cockpit, closing the door behind her. North was glad he had his helmet on...

Nevada deflated as soon as Sam had left the room, relieved.

"Who's David?" she asked.

"Wash," North told her. "That's his real name."

"Oh..." Nevada murmured. Then, "What did she do to Wash?"

North currently had his hands folded over each other in front of him, innocently twiddling his thumbs.

"She... had a training session with him... Wash was a new recruit at that time, so he wasn't very... _skilled_. Sam... didn't like who the Director paired her up with. She saw him as a twig, and nearly broke him like a toothpick..."

North cringed as he remembered Wash screaming for mercy and how close Sam had gotten to breaking his neck _literally_ under her heel.

"She is not a woman to be messed with... Then again, _most_ of the women in Project Freelancer aren't the kind you want to mess with..."

Nevada shifted uncomfortably. "But she's just a candidate, isn't she? If she was able to beat Wash so easily, why isn't she an agent?"

It was at this moment she noticed a voice that had been conspicuously absent from the conversation.

"And why haven't you been talking?" she asked Minnesota.

Nevada always had issues with knowing what was going on around Project Freelancer. People didn't talk to her about the serious stuff. She was almost always the last to here about anything. And now she was feeling left out again.

"She _was_ supposed to be given the designation of Washington, but Wash beat her too it. After that the only available spot was Texas, which as we all know is reserved. Believe it or not, there was a Minnesota and a Nevada before you two showed up... I just hope you don't meet their fate..."

North looked at Minnesota in regards too Nevada bringing up how quiet he was being.

"Ada's right, your never this quiet. What's up?"

Minnesota looked up from the floor.

"Hm? Oh... I was just... Concentrating... Talking with Beta... She's scared so-" North waved a hand.

"We get it, chill." With that, Minnesota looked back at the floor, and North gave a small shrug to Nevada.

_Beta has not been active since the briefing..._

"I know, Theta."

_He is lying_

North nodded as the AI continued to speak in his head.

_Another Nevada... _... the current Nevada thought. She ignored her concerns over what might have happened to her predecessor and focused on Minnesota.

Well, if he was just talking to Beta it should be fine. God knew she and Kappa would completely blank from the rest of the world when they really got talking.

Speaking of Kappa...

_I guess I slept through the alarm,_ her AI informed her. By 'slept through the alarm' he meant 'forgot to go online when she woke up'. Her AI wasn't always the brightest.

"Sam got to you didn't she, Nevada?" North looked at the younger agent with concern. Out of all of the freelancer's, he was the most compassionate, always watching out for the others.

Nevada shifted, not entirely comfortable with the attention being directed at her. Then she realized: yeah, Sam had gotten to her. She was usually comfortable around North. He was nice.

"A little," she admitted to him. "But it's really nothing."

North looked like he was about to say something when the intercom came online.

"Hey! You'd better get ready back there! Almost at the drop-off point!"

Minnesota looked up at 479er's "distinct" voice. Amazing what a helmet can do to a person's voice when it goes through various types of filters.

"North, your first! Command left you a gift for the ride."

North stood up and grabbed his gear off the rack it had been placed on, and walked towards the back of the Pelican where four jet packs had been hung on the wall. North tilted his head when he saw them.

_Command gave us jet packs?_

The door of the Pelican opened, revealing that they were quite a fair bit above the actual target site.

"Hey, wouldn't it make more sense to land- I don't know- _closer_ to the target?"

There was a slight delay before the Pelican's intercom came back on.

"North, Command wants us too enter from up here so it's not as obvious. This is a _stealth_ mission. A pelican would stand out."

North's mind drew a blank. Had _Samantha_, the one person he knew that made _his_ sister look patient, just given him a _logical_ answer?!

"Of course, we could also lose a few points on the board and do this the fun way by blowing everything up."

_Nope, never mind. Same old Sam._

"Well, alright. Where am I landing?"

On the HUD in North's helmet, a helipad near the bottom of the building.

"You'll be hitting a helipad near the bottom and securing any assets on the way up."

North took a deep breath before eventually taking a running start and leaping out of the Pelican, free falling down towards the building.

"Nevada, you're next. The landing point is a balcony in the middle of the tower. It'll be on a floor that is still under construction. _Should_ be marked on your HUD by now..."

Sam came back into the cargo bay and smiled at Nevada.

"If you hit the ground, do us a favor and have your AI detonate your armor so we don't have to get it. Thanks, sweetie."

With that, Samantha took a running start, grabbing a sniper rifle and a jet pack along the way, and jumped out of the Pelican. One the jet pack was on, she began her descent towards the same building Nevada had been on when-

Minnesota rubbed the area of his armor where metal now met skin, remembering the events that had removed his arm in the first place.

Nevada focused on the waypoint on her HUD. The balcony itself was around the corner of the building, so she activated the pack and strafed around the side, free-falling down to the balcony and landing next to a guard on coffee break. Before he could yell out and draw attention, Nevada covered his mouth, turned him around and hit him in the back of the head -using his thick hair to hide the bruise that would show later. She set him down and arranged him to look as if he had fallen asleep on the job.

She crouched low to avoid being seen through the windows, but her motion trackers indicated no one inside. She peeked through one and saw the room before her empty.

"Now what?" she asked over the radio.

As Nevada landed, Minnesota jumped, aiming for the roof of the building.

"I'm in place on the building across the highway. Sat on the North or East sides of the building. I have no visual on the South and West side. Minnesota will be placed on the roof near the beacon's location. He'll be scouting the enemies forces. Nevada, you are going to slowly make your way upstairs on the outside of the building. Same goes for you North. Be careful. Seems our last two stints here got the Insurrectionists riled up. Top floors are _crawling_ with heat signatures."

North looked up the side of the building, seeing several large balconies.

"Job never gets easier, does it?"

North launched himself off the ground and, using his jet pack, leaped from balcony to balcony, gradually making his way up.

For Nevada, however, things were about to get a little more difficult. The area above where she had landed was still under construction and if she listened carefully, she could here the guard making his rounds two floors up...

That, and a second guard had just entered the room too see his buddy unconscious on the ground with a possible assassin. He immediately pointed his gun, albeit unsteadily.

"Sir, put your hands behind your head, get on your knees, and we can resolve this peacefully."

Apparently it was "think Nevada is a guy" day.

Nevada took in the situation at a second. There was nowhere to run, and she couldn't take the guy out without blowing their cover and causing a commotion.

Normal Nevada would've given up here, but she'd already slipped into her combat mode.

The guard seemed... like a nice guy.

She burst out crying.

"I... I'm sorry!" she sobbed, shoulders shaking and voice as high and young as possible.

The guard's eyes widened. "You're a... girl?"

"I... it's just... this is what they told me to do! I-"

"Another one from Freelancer, huh?" the man murmured. "How old are you?"

"Fi-fifteen, sir," Nevada told him, sniffling.

The guard knew the Freelancers had voice manipulation technology, and wasn't fooled as easily as Nevada had hoped. "Take off your helmet, sweetheart."

Nevada did so, slowly. She looked at the man with wide eyes set in a face that could've belonged to a child.

"Oh my God... you really are a kid," the man said, lowering his weapon and approaching. "I never thought Freelancer would stoop so low. Come on, sweetheart, we'll get you hel-"

Nevada dived on him when he was close enough, using the weight of her armor to hold him down. She covered his mouth and nose until he was unconscious.

"For the record, I'm twenty-one," she informed his body.

From inside of Nevada's helmet, she could hear a woman laughing. Then she could hear North.

"Here's another thing too add to the record: You left your radio on."

North continued his balcony-hopping, stopping every now and then too allow his jets too recharge.

"Hey, Flat-Top. If your good enough, there's a service ladder outside to your right that leads up about 5 floors."

Minnesota finally landed on the roof, quickly making his way towards the opened stairwell. He entered and emerged into a large, business meeting like area...

... and the beacon was on the table.

"What's so bad about using my youthful looks to my advantage?" Nevada asked. The part of her that got flustered easily got shut down when she was in battle. "Or are you just jealous that there's something I can do that you can't?"

Nevada made her way out to the balcony, saw the service ladder a few meters off from it. There was a short ledge about mid-distance between the two. Nevada climbed onto the balcony rails, jumped onto the ledge about two meters below, and jumped again to grab the rungs of the service ladder.

Her radio crackled once more, this time with Minnesota. "Uh, guys, we have-"

As if some deity was telling her to turn around, a soldier just so happened to look over the edge as Nevada had almost climbed over the top...

... and proceeded to fall like a rag doll the whole way down. It was then that Minnesota poked his head over the edge and outstretched a hand to Nevada as the ladder gave out creaks and moans under the stress of her armor's weight.

Nevada took his hand gratefully, allowing herself to be pulled onto the balcony. She took a moment to study the service ladder -it would hold for now, but it probably wouldn't hold anyone else's weight.

"I hope nobody saw her on her way down," Nevada noted, nodding towards the edge.

Minnesota pulled out his pistol and put it against Nevada's head. If she had been watching her radar, she might have picked up the dozen or so soldiers behind him, as well as a person in brown armor and an EOD helmet... CT.

"For the record, I'm sorry."

"...Sota? CT?" Nevada asked, wide-eyed and staring between her two friends (well, CT was an acquaintance at least) rather than the gun at her head.

"Sorry, kid," CT shrugged. She didn't sound as sorry as she could be, but she definitely didn't seem comfortable with this. "Sota," she nodded towards him, his cue to-

"That's ok," Nevada replied in a forgiving tone, freezing Minnesota in place. "I don't really understand what's happening, but I'm sure you have your reasons."

Even through their helmets, Nevada knew Minnesota was looking her straight in the eye. "Ada-"

She batted the pistol out of his hands and over the edge.

As soon as Nevada reacted, one of the Insurrectionists, a rather large man, hit Nevada in the back of the head with the butt of his rifle, sending her on hands and knees, before hitting her again three more times. The hits weren't enough to knock the girl out, but enough to keep her down.

CT handed Minnesota her pistol, which he hesitantly took, staring between the gun and Nevada with doubt.

"You said nobody would get hurt, CT..."

"I'm sorry, Neil... But it's too much of a risk too-"

"You _promised_ me that nobody would get hurt..."

CT bit her lip behind her helmet. She _**had**_ promised him that nobody would get hurt... But Nevada was far too loyal to the Project to turn against them, and was a liability now...

Minnesota pointed the gun at Nevada's head, shaking heavily before he removed her helmet. He pressed the gun firmly against her forehead, shaking. He didn't want too do this. Nevada was his _friend_. Hell, he had a hard enough time killing people to begin with, but killing people he _knew_?!

... But Beta was more important to him than anyone, even Carolina and York. She was... Broken, just like him. They found comfort with the other, and trusted each other... and then CT showed him what Project Freelancer was _really_ doing... What the _Director_ was really doing...

And when he learned how Beta, _his_ teammate and best friend, had been created... It sickened him... He wanted to have nothing more to do with the Project... But now...

"I'm sorry, Nevada... I really am... But Beta comes first..."

"No!" a voice neither of them really expected called out. The small, silvery form of Kappa appeared next to Nevada, futilely trying to push the gun away from her, even as his hands passed right through time and time again. "Please, stop!"

Nevada sighed. She was no longer in her combat mode -she was just normal Ada, with one of her friends pointing a gun at her head.

Slowly, she raised her hand, the soldiers around her keeping careful aim, and lightly gripped Minnesota's pistol, re-aiming it to go through her right temple to the back of her head.

"You'd hit Kappa otherwise," she said by way of explanation.

"Ada!" Kappa yelled.

"I just want to know why," Nevada continued, looking from Minnesota, to CT, and back again. "Please."

"The Project- no... The _Director_ is nothing but a criminal. You wouldn't want to know what kind of torture he put someone through to create the AI Fragments."

CT's patience had reached its end. She walked up to Minnesota, grabbed the pistol, aimed-

And was presumably kicked in the chest by Minnesota who not only shoved Nevada's helmet onto her head, but also managed to get her a soldiers shotgun before getting hit with the butt of an assault rifle.

At that time, North arrived, quickly yelling into his radio that their cover was blown and for Sam to move to a better vantage point.

Several Insurrectionists were confused, alarmed, or just unsure if what to do, including the ones previously guarding Nevada.

Nevada wasted a grand total of five precious seconds being shocked before the guards' recovery prompted her to action.

Using the shotgun as a baseball bat, she jumped between guards, swinging and aiming for their heads, then flipping the shotgun around to actually shoot when she was sure nobody would come up behind her.

North had his own issues on the other side of the balcony, his long-distance weapon doing little to help him with several enemies right next to him. He switched to a pistol and lashed out to give himself more room.

Minnesota was currently occupied with fighting the soldier that had hit Nevada in the back of the head with the butt of his weapon. Neither combatant possessed a weapon, and were now fighting it out with their fists. The soldiers on their floor were rookies and grunts, with maybe one or two elites that knew what they were doing (and knew how to actually _aim_ a gun). To make things worse, CT and the guy in charge had fled.

_Probably should have tried harder to remember his name if he actually_ was _the guy in charge... Oh well, live and learn._

Outside, Samantha was now in position and was able to see everyone currently fighting on the Agent's floor. Scoping in, Samantha smiled when she fired and made a soldier's head explode. Needless to say, there was quite a mess. She fired again, this time placing a shot through a soldier's chest. The shot went straight through and hit Nevada's left shoulder, piercing the armor and going through the fiber mesh underneath before stopping half-way into her shoulder.

"Hey, runt! Stay out of my shot!"

Samantha went back to aiming, smiling maliciously at the fact that she had purposely lined up the shot to hit the younger Freelancer.

Nevada cried out and fell back with the hit, holding her injured shoulder and staring at the blood beginning to poor through her fingers.

Praying to Heka, Panacea and Bona Dea to heal her just a tiny bit, she stumbled to her feet -but was quickly pushed down again as an elite soldier pushed her.

He tried aiming his gun but she kicked it away, grabbing her own pistol and shooting before he could react.

_Ada, according to what I saw it would have been very easy for her to avoid hitting-_

_I know, Kap,_ she assured him. And she did. Sam was going to be a problem.

Sam fired at a soldier that had been trying to run away, catching him in the leg. She laughed when she noticed it had blown the dam thing off, leaving him screaming in pain.

Minnesota's fight with the elite soldier was still going, but Minnesota was currently at a... disadvantage. Right now, he was on the soldier's back, arms wrapped tightly around the man's neck in an attempt at strangling him. Beta was literally Iscreaming/I alarms at how close the two were getting to the edge.

At that moment, Sam noticed the fight between Minnesota and the Elite. Smiling she took careful aim, determined to make the shot count.

"Time to fly, Little Bird..."

Samantha fired. The shot went straight through the elite's chest before going out and going into Minnesota's, stopping just short of his left lung.

Then she fired a second shot, going through the elite's neck and through Minnesota's shoulder. However, as it went through, it severed the fuel supply cord of his jet pack. Samantha smiled as Minnesota struggled to stand up. The elite was dead, and Sam had one shot left.

"One shot left..." Samantha waited as everybody was busy fighting somebody, and was eventually rewarded with the 3-for-1 she had wanted. Quickly taking aim, she fired. The bullet went through a soldier's head, sending the result spraying at Nevada, where the bullet just _barely_ grazed her visor, before it impacted Minnesota square in the chest, sending him over the edge with a now useless jet pack. North was too occupied to notice.

Sam chuckled before smiling darkly and calling for extraction.

"Oops, my bad."

Nevada growled as Sam's bullet left a distinctive graze on her visor, but her anger was interrupted by fear as she saw Minnesota go over the edge.

"Sota!" She scrambled over to the ledge, Kappa blaring warnings in her head about the status of his jet pack and their current height.

Nevada prepared to leap over the edge, use her jetpack to hasten her descent and grab Minnesota before he hit the ground. She would've, too. She didn't like losing people.

Her plan was interrupted when a soldier grabbed her arm, spun her around and punched her right in the chest.

She didn't react at all.

Kappa had activated her armour enhancement, a device that allowed kinetic energy to be absorbed and stored in the suit. The soldier didn't know this, though, only that a tiny girl had withstood a very large punch.

Nevada knew there was no way she could get to Minnesota in time now.

The rational, thinking part of her brain shut down and all she knew was rage.

Rage at Sam, but for now, these soldiers would make a decent substitute.

What few people knew about Nevada (and what Sam most certainly didn't know) was that when she got sincerely angry, she would happily beat anyone who she didn't identify as 'friend' into a bloody pulp.

She did this now, as Sam and North watched on.

The remaining soldiers didn't last long, either put to a quick, painless death by North or Nevada, a long and painful one by Sam, or they just simply jumped off the building. By the time that it was only North and Nevada left, he had already deduced what had happened. He walked up the stairs and sat on the edge of the roof, knowing full well that Sam had him in her sights. She wouldn't fire. She never did. Sometimes, that's all it took to remind North that Sam was still... _human_... But this?

He sighed as he waited for the pelican to come and get them.

Nevada slowly returned to her senses, Kappa whispering various comforting things into her mind.

She was distracted. Her armor was covered in bloodstains despite the fact she had sustained few injuries -besides the one Sam gave her, of course. The bullet wound was seriously hurting, and she knew it would be painful to dig the round out.

But there was something more important to worry about.

She stumbled over to the edge and looked down. She zoomed in.

"Sota..."

North put an arm around her shoulders and led her away, towards the Pelican she didn't hear land.

"Come on, Kid... It's been a long day..."

North was silently grateful that, at their height, clouds were covering their view of the ground below. He didn't want to know what would happen if either of them saw his body...

As they approached the Pelican, Sam was already comfortably seated, smiling at nothing in particular. He would have a long "chat" with her when they got back. As they entered the Pelican, North thought he saw a shimmer in the air move by him, but dismissed it as a sign of exhaustion.

The Pelican took of shortly after they entered, and the trip back to the "_Mother of Invention_" was relatively quiet. When they boarded, however, The Director was there to greet them, and apparently he had been speaking with Agent Illinois. When North noticed this, he knew the result was not going to be good.

"Addie," Illinois said simply, taking the younger agent in a big, sweeping hug. Sam looked like she was about to make some sort of comment, but a look from Illinois -a look reserved for people who think their children are in danger- silenced her.

Illinois wasn't Nevada's father. They just acted like he was.

The Director cleared his throat and motioned for them to separate, and while Nevada moved away, looking very numb, Illinois made sure to keep a firm hand around her shoulder.

"Well then," the Director began. "Agent North, do explain what happened."

Sam immediately turned to Nevada. "So, who's the boyfriend? He's got some interesting tastes, I'll give him that."

"Massa," Illinois said. A woman appeared from the shadows, wearing a medic's uniform as opposed to her regular Freelancer armour. "Please take Ada to the infirmary. She has been injured."

Massa led Nevada out, but when they turned a corner they stayed there. They could hear exactly what was happening. Kentucky joined them, but looked ready to cut someone.

"C'mon, Sam, just lay of-"

"It's not Sam anymore though, is it?" she laughed. "Minnesota. He used Sota, didn't he? I wonder if I can get a better nickname."

"The mission was... A setup, sir..." The Director raised an eyebrow at this, telling North to explain.

"The beacon was guarded by Insurrectionists, and CT was there. She escaped and... Agent Minnesota was killed by friendly fire-"

"He had betrayed us, sir. He could no longer be trusted and was considered expendable, so I took the shot." Sam held her poker face well, but her eyes _burned_ with malevolence. She turned to Nevada.

"Agent Nevada managed to get shot due to her carelessness." She smiled before turning back to the Director, who was more than aware of Samantha's affinity for friendly-fire.

"That's... Unfortunate. Agents, you are dismissed. Agent Minnesota-" The Director looked at Sam, the _new_ Agent Minnesota.

"You are to report to armor processing to receive your measurements, then you are to report for implantation surgery, am I clear?" Sam nodded, while North looked bewildered. The Director left, leaving Samantha alone with the others.

"You know damn well you don't deserve that desi-"

"I don't _deserve_ it, North?!" North cringed as he immediately realized what he had said.

"I'm in too good of a mood to snap at you, North, so just remember that." Samantha turned to Illinois, eyes _burning_ with some kind of sick determination.

"You... You need to get a better taste in women. One's that _aren't_ as flat as a board." Samantha dragged her fingers across his chest plate as she walked past him, stopping when she saw Nevada.

"You should really try _not_ getting shot, runt. Tends too hurt less. I'd say the same to your friend, but he appears to be incapable of learning that."

"Hey, new girl," Kentucky called. She placed herself between Nevada and Sam -who would only ever be Minnesota to a few people- and crossed her arms. "Where'd you think you'll be placed? Y'know, on the board."

"Higher than you," Sam replied.

"We'll see about that," Kentucky said, approaching the other woman with a glare that would've frozen most people on the spot.

A small hand on her shoulder prevented Kentucky from doing anything.

"Lying and making others look bad will only get you so far," she informed Sam. Despite the grief she was feeling and the rage that should be directed towards the other woman, she spoke calmly. "I don't know what you hope to achieve here. But whatever it is, there are better ways to reach it than what you're doing."

With that, Nevada turned on her heel and walked off. She paused for a moment, "Oh, and for the record, he's not my boyfriend. He's pretty much my dad."

As Nevada disappeared, Kentucky sent an amused glance Sam's way and jogged after her, with Massa and Illinois following them close behind leaving North and Sam alone.

Samantha disregarded what Nevada said and left to do as the Director had told her, first reporting to armor processing to pick up a new set of armor, then too the medical labs for implantation.

Most of the Freelancers were getting ready to turn in by the time her surgery was underway, but that would change. The minute the chip was placed in her neck, Samantha started literally _screaming_ as her weak immune system was painfully bolstered by Bio-Tech implant that had been placed in her neck to strengthen her immunodeficiency along with her A.I chip.

North, who had been enjoying a coffee while having a nice conversation with York (and occasionally Delta whenever he decided to chime in with statistics) when he heard her, slightly cringing as the other Freelancers in the room turned towards the direction of the screaming, wondering what it was.

"Christ, which A.I did she get if it's causing her to _scream_?!" York merely shook his head.

"Well whatever A.I it is, I hope it calms her down... I don't want to be on the field and have too worry about friendly fire over regular fire." For once, Delta didn't add logic or statistics too his Agent's sentence. He knew _exactly_ which A.I Samantha had received, as the Director had ordered Delta to run simulations to determine compatibility with the unstable woman, and only one A.I had turned up positive results...

Which was also the one A.I Delta had recommended _not_ implanting into Samantha.

Kentucky and Nevada had been friends long before the Project began. So after the bullet had been removed and Nevada's shoulder patched up, Kentucky dragged her friend to their room sat her down on her bed, and glomped her.

"I'm so, so sorry," she cooed as her tiny friend cried silently. Nevada was never good at losing people. She could remember Jem's death all too well...

What Kentucky knew for sure was that the new girl -Sam, or whatever- was the cause of her friend's pain. She would happily fight for her. Illinois, Massa, New Jersey and a few others would too. Sam had made more than a few enemies today.

When a scream pierced the quiet of the halls, Kentucky just hugged Nevada tighter and grinned. She deserved whatever she got.

Hours later, when most of the Freelancers had fallen asleep, Samantha was unsteadily wandering the halls. Blood that had trailed down her neck was now dry. She was wobbly on her feet, and if things went her way, the medic wouldn't notice she was gone until shift change. She tumbled again, catching herself on her door. Quickly opening it, she entered and collapsed onto her knees, doubled over in pain.

Her head was filled with... with _voices_. None of which were her own,but there were voices. _Thousands_ of voices, promising greater power or salvation. She cringed as they all raised their voices at one time, causing her to claw at the metal floor.

"Get out of my head! **GET OUT**!" Samantha writhed on the floor, clawing at her head in a futile attempt to silence the army of voices. This continued until finally, they stopped, and Samantha was breathing hard on the floor. In her mind, she could feel- literally _feel_- something or someone's presence. It felt... comforting, like a long time friend. She wanted to approach it and bathe in that feeling, but at the same time, the presence felt... Corrupting. It felt... wrong, like some sort of evil, twisted demon. Samantha cried out as her head pounded. Black started crawling into her vision from the pain, and it wouldn't be long until she was out.

"What... What are you?"

_**I**__am Zeta. Your new best friend._

Agents Massa, Kentucky, Illinois, and Nevada belong to _**Ayane458**_

Agent Minnesota and Samantha Paladray belong to _**Me**_

All other characters belong to and are copyright of _**RoosterTeeth Productions**_


	2. Rampant Self-Destruction

******Time: 2200 Hours (10:00 PM)**

**Location: RT-636 "**_**Mother of Invention**_**"**

Agent Texas sat patiently in the chair she was occupying, staring at the A.I Containment unit sitting on the table. It was hooked up to a console that some technicians had been using to analyze the A.I inside of the unit, Beta, who Texas had recently retrieved from the body of the late Minnesota. She regretted being unable to bring back the body as well, but she just didn't have the time. The technicians had been trying to figure out what happened, but the minute they started probing Beta's files, she'd fried the console.

Now the Director had showed up, calling for Agent Nevada after the situation had been explained. A short time later, the door opened automatically with a quiet noise, enough to direct Texas' attention to it. Nevada had never entirely fit in with the image of what a soldier should be -strong, brave, even prideful. She was small, frail-looking and jumpy. Now she looked even worse, shrinking under Texas' gaze as she walked into the room, taking in the console and the Containment Unit.

"Decided to take the long way, Agent Nevada?" The Director was not entirely pleased with the situation at hand, meaning he wasn't pleased with anything or anyone, and he sure as hell wasn't going to wait for her to answer.

"As you can see, we managed to retrieve the A.I of the late Neil Brookes from his armor after he was put down for helping the enemy. Unfortunately, we were unable to extract his armor, meaning that the only way to get information on the enemy is by getting it from the A.I itself." Texas cringed in her helmet when the Director referred to Beta as "it". It was like he didn't even care for the A.I anymore. The Councilor stepped forward.

"That's where you come in, Nevada. You A.I is more... compassionate and understanding than the others. Beta's insecure nature is easily compatible with those traits, meaning she'll trust Kappa more than anyone else. We need him to speak with Beta and try to get her to cooperate so that we can find out what happened."

Inside of the containment unit, Beta was... scared. Sota wasn't there to theoretically dry her tears. He wasn't there to soothe her. He wasn't there to tell her that the world isn't really so scary.

Sota was _gone_, and now the Director and his technicians were trying to poke around her files, even after she had told them she had no idea what had been going on. One moment Sota had asked Beta if she could go offline so he could talk to CT in private, then the next moment she came online to find her Agent barely clinging to life. Then Texas has come, and, against her pleas, Sota pulled Beta.

He'd done the one thing he'd _promised_ her he would _never_ do...

...And now he was dead, and she was jammed into her containment unit again, left to fight off the things in the dark on her own.

Nevada barely reacted to the Director's criticism, instead focusing on the task at hand. She looked to her left, where Kappa appeared, head-height. He was eager to help his 'sister', she could tell. He always wanted to help.

Nevada smiled at him, very much trying to draw his attention away from the Director's annoyance and the reason Beta was now stuck in a Containment Unit, hiding from the world.

"You up to it, Kap?" she asked, knowing his answer really didn't matter.

"Yep," Kappa declared, his hologram wondering over to the console as if to confirm it. Kappa's chosen avatar was a boy either in his very early teens or just before, consistently dressed for cold weather. "Do you want me to talk to her from here, or from the console?" Kappa asked. The question was, of course, directed toward the Director.

"The console. I do not think she wishes us to have anything to do with your conversation," the Director replied, gesturing for Nevada to remove Kappa's chip from her armour. Nevada removed the chip, and the Councilor carefully took it from her and placed it into a slot on the console (which was had been repaired just enough for them to get readings on Beta as well as Kappa). Once that was done, all that was left to do was let the A.I. do it's thing. The Director looked at the technican that was silently watching the screen for any signs of activity.

"Inform me at once if there is a development." The techie gave a sharp salute as the Director and the Councilor left, leaving the techician, Texas, and Nevada to watch over the pair of A.I. Texas looked over to Nevada.

"So... How're you holding up? Since... ya' know..." Tex had never ibeen/i much of a talker. She was used to hitting things, breaking things, killing things, and anything related to that, so small talk, or any kind of talk really, wasn't her strong suit.

Inside of the containment unit, Kappa found himself in a fairly dark wasteland. This was inot/i a place for Beta to be. Not even for a second. To make matters worse, this had been her containment unit before her implantation as well. If Kappa strained his ears, he'd be able to hear Beta "crying" as she usually did when she was scared. Kappa followed the sounds of sobs to a pale blue light in the dark. It was Beta, curled up on herself, her hair messy and her yellow eyes screwed shut. Beta's avatar looked about ten years older than Kappa's, but he still always felt like the elder of the two. Carefully taking off his coat, Kappa gently placed it over her shoulders. Beta jumped, nearly hitting her head on his chin as her eyes flew open.

"Alright," Nevada replied eventually. The techie made a point of examining another piece of equipment in the room, giving the women their privacy. "Certainly... certainly not as bad as I could be." A weak grin was sent Texas' way. She was reminded of something she'd wanted to bring up for a while.

"Y'know I... North," Texas began. Nevada looked at her, confused.

"You and North?" Nevada asked. She didn't see what that had to do with anything, but she wasn't going to complain about the change in topic. "Um, really? I mean, that sounds great! Just a little unexpected." Texas made a noise somewhere between a sigh and a growl.

"No, I mean North told me what he overheard during the mission. The conversation between you and... and Sota." Nevada looked up sharply now, meeting Texas' eyes, wary of where this would go.

"You were ready to let him kill you."

Beta saw Kappa, and unlike other times where she would cry her eyes out to the "elder" A.I, she kept her distance from him.

Minnesota's death had impacted the already fragile A.I fairly hard. If Kappa looked around closely, he would notice that several sections of the sky, or the ground, or the trees, or even just random tidbits of air were digitally broken, showing up as shining blue wire models or as patches of broken coding.

"Go away, Kappa... Just... Leave me alone..."

"No," Kappa said, sitting down next to her. He decided that 'hug therapy' probably wasn't going to work here, so he kept his distance. "You need to talk to someone. You can't stay here forever."

Texas wasn't pleased with Nevada, that much for certain, and if Nevada had been about to let herself get killed, anyone could have told Nevada that she'd have needed a idamn/i good reason to get Tex off of her back.

Nevada focused on a point besides Texas' face, avoiding her eyes and ignoring the scowl this earned her. How was she supposed to explain her feelings at that point? Texas wasn't like her. She wouldn't understand -maybe someone like York or Wash, but not Texas.

She had to try, though. The look on Texas' face demanded it.

"He was my friend," she replied simply. "I refused to fight him."

"He was going to kill you," Texas shot back.

"He didn't," Nevada shrugged. It wasn't like it this was something she could shrug off, it was just the only gesture she could think of.

"And what if he had?" Texas knew Nevada wasn't telling the whole story. Hell she herself did it thousands of times, but Texas knew Minnesota couldn't have pulled that trigger, even if he'd wanted to.

_So then why point the gun in the first place?_

Beta simply frowned, trying her best to look angry, but... That was more Omega's thing than hers.

"I can and I will... Why do you even care? You're not the one jammed in a containment unit..." Beta stood up and angrily kicked a small rock, which exploded into coding when she did so.

"And what's the point of talking? CT wanted to "talk" with Sota, and now look where he is..."

"I am not CT," Kappa stated, hugging his knees to his chest and mirroring her position. "I am Kappa."

Kappa was starting to be a little scared by his sister. Not helping that the usual bright yellow of her eyes was a little... off.

The technician looked at the screen when it made a small beeping sound, and noticed a slightly irregularity in Beta's patterns as the two AI "conversed". He shrugged before he went back to examining the other equipment in the room.

_Probably just a glitch in the system._

"If he had, then I'd be dead," Nevada replied, crossing her arms over her chest in an unusually confrontational pose, even if she still wouldn't meet Texas' eyes. "That's what happens when someone shoots you in the head."

Beta looked at Kappa, tears flowing down her face.

"Of course you are! You're _Kappa_. _Compassion_. How could I _ever_ forget?!" If Kappa took a look around he would notice that the missing codes and models were becoming more frequent in the world around them.

The technician looked up from the equipment he'd been examining when the console's alarm went off, and he quickly walked over to look at the screen, noticing Iseveral/I things wrong with Beta's pattern.

"F.I.L.S.S, get the Director."

_Affirmitive_.

On the screen, a window popped up to tell the technician that the system's firewall had been breached.

"FUCK! Get him here, like, 5 minutes ago, F.I.L.S.S!" The technician had quickly taken a seat, furiously typing in line after line of code onto the console.

"What the fuck's going on?!" Texas was curious to see what was making all that... _noise_.

"Beta's managed to get into the system. She's blocking my access and trying to tear down the unit from the inside out!"

Beta looked at Kappa before sighing and throwing his coat at him.

"You want to help _them_? Fine." Beta removed her own coat, implanting it with her recent memories, and threw it at Kappa. She planned to tear the containment units "world" apart, piece by piece, until she eventually tore apart her own coding. Beta walked over and hugged Kappa tightly, crying... But smiling.

"I'm sorry Kappa... You were always a good little brother..."

_After "Alpha", comes "Beta"..._

Beta looked at Kappa before letting go of him.

"You should probably leave..."

Kappa froze. He pulled Beta's coat tight around himself when she let him go, processing and re-processing the data she'd put there. Because it couldn't be right. It just _couldn't_ be. It wasn't _fair_ that Beta try to put him through that while he and Ada were already so hurt. And what about the others? North and Theta, Massa and Pi, York and Delta?

He was suddenly very aware of the strange, glitchy, pixelated areas of landscape, even areas where it looked like someone had ripped large holes in reality and code -incorrect, half-deleted code- could be viewed through them. Kappa wanted to run back to Ada. But that would mean leaving Beta.

"...No," he decided. He wasn't going to let her stay here and hurt herself. Not just for her, but for the others as well. And for him.

Nevada's relief of the end of Texas' interrogation was short-lived.

"What does that mean?" Nevada demanded, only keeping her distance because she knew it was _bad_ and that the man was trying to _fix it_ and she didn't want to distract him.

"Suicide," the techie replied. "The AI equivalent of suicide."

Nevada froze and, guiltily, thought, _What will happen to Kappa?_

Beta looked at Kappa, and she felt... Happy.

"Kappa... I know it's not fair, but I can't trust anyone but you with this. The other A.I would mess everything up..."

The Director had finally showed up with Counselor following behind him. He immediatly went over to the still blaring console.

"What the _hell_ is going on, Hanson?!"

"Beta's attempting to tear herself apart, Sir. She's blocking me from stopping her, or doing _anything_ for that matter!" The Director's frown deepened, and Texas felt sick to her stomach when she knew exactly what he was about to do.

"So be it. Remove Kappa from the console, Counselor. Beta's a lost cause now." Tex looked at Nevada, getting ready to grab the girl in case she tried anything stupid.

Beta looked around, smiling as she did. The world was coming down...

"Kappa... You can't stay... I'm not worth saving..." Beta walked for a bit. Kappa might have been yelling at her, but she couldn't hear him. Just the void of silence. She looked at him, smiling.

"Be good for the others, Little Brother..." She was _going_ to say goodbye when she remembered something...

_...Something about hating goodbyes._

With that, Beta began finalizing her suicide, slowly (and painfully) deleting her own code. Deleting the very thing that made her who she was. The Councilor pulled Kappa soon at this time, but he'd still seen what Beta was doing to herself.

"Give him to me," an authoritive, cold voice ordered. The Councilor paused and stared at its owner, Nevada. Texas, Hanson and the Director did the same. Nevada looked intimidating now. The usual delicacy of her features and the way she carried herself was gone without even so much as a trace as she held out her hand expectantly. Her eyes held none of the giddiness or fear they were known for.

The Director nodded. "You heard the agent, Councilor," he declared.

Kappa's chip was handed over to Nevada, at which point the girl seemed to decide being terrifying was too tiring and she was back to normal... if very distressed. Texas looked at Nevada, determined to continue her interro-

"Agent Texas. I'd like a full debriefing on your mission, if you'd please. Agent Nevada, you're free to go." The Director issued the girl outside, and the Councilor followed her.

"Nevada... You should return your A.I to its slot and make sure Kappa is... Okay. Seeing an AI destroy itself can have... _adverse_ effects..." It was public knowledge that one of the A.I.s, Mu, had effectively ripped itself apart after failing a series of tests. Another A.I., Nu, had seen it, and about a week after being implanted into Agent Ohio, had snapped inside of the woman's mind, viciously rampaging as it slowly killed itself. Ohio had been off active duty since then, going to regular therapy sessions, but showing no progress as she cried and screamed at the memory of the psychotic A.I.

Agents York and Maine had been walking by, now interested in why Nevada and the Councilor were walking down a hall together. Sigma appeared next to Nevada to voice his agent's thoughts.

_**You seem distracted, Nevada. Did your meeting with the Director go alright?**_

Nevada looked to the Councilor, as if asking permission to tell what had transpired. He nodded and prayed the Director would not contradict him later.

"Beta... Beta is gone," she informed the four, holding Kappa's chip tightly.

"_Agent Nevada... please expand upon your use of the term, 'gone',_" Delta requested, flickering into life next to York.

"She deleted herself," Nevada replied. "Kappa tried to stop her but he couldn't... Speaking of."

Nevada took her helmet and placed the AI's chip _carefully_ into its slot, waiting for the _snick_ that confirmed it was in place.

_**That is rather unfortunate... She was a good sister. Ambitious.**_

York shuddered slightly when Sigma said that. He _hated_ Maine's A.I. Little guy was _really_ creepy...

_**Tell me, Agent Nevada, do you think we could speak with Kappa?**_

The Councilor stepped in at this point.

"Sigma, you are well aware of the protocols involving A.I confrontation. You are not supposed to be spe-" Sigma decided he did _not_ like this answer.

_**Protocol" is just a fancy way of saying "rules". I am merely concerned about the well-being of a dear friend and brother.**_

"_I would have to agree. While it_ is _against protocol for A.I to be in confrontation with one another, it is important to analyze if Kappa will follow down the same path as Nu, seeing that both viewed an A.I committing self-homicide._"

The Councilor was stumped. On one hand, Sigma obviously didn't care for Kappa's safety, only wanting to see the A.I for his own reasons, whatever they may be, while on the other hand, Delta was correct. Kappa _should_ be analyzed to make sure he didn't follow down Nu's path... Thankfully for the Councilor, York stepped in.

"Hey, Sig? Dee? I don't really think this is our decision. Nevada and Kappa can decide if they want to play along." The Councilor quietly sighed in relief upon hearing York's answer.

"Agent York is correct. Nevada? Why don't you decide if Kappa should come out or not?"

Nevada nodded automatically, but by the time she had put on her helmet she was too distracted to pay attention to what the three men were talking about.

_Kappa?_ she asked cautiously, feeling his presence slowly creep into the back of her mind.

_Ada!_ was the immediate response and Kappa basically did the mental equivalent of running up to her and throwing his arms around her, a sensation sharp enough to cause Nevada to actually stumble back a few steps. She felt York place a steadying hand on her shoulder and ask if she was alright, but she waved him off, too intent on the wellbeing of her AI.

Her AI who, as she could tell from the confused and scared signals he was sending through her mind, only wanted to curl up and sob.

In front of Nevada, a black A.I appeared rather abruptly. It was a female wearing armor up too the head, but her left arm looked... inhuman. More predatory due to the fact that it's finger were claws. On the face was a mask void of any detail save for two malicious looking eye-holes. The A.I's hair was separated at the bangs, falling on either side of her face. The rest went back into a ponytail down to the A.I's waist. Surrounding the A.I was what appeared to be a thin veil of fog.

**Greetings. We are Zeta. How can We be of assistance to you, Freelancer?**

Nevada may or may not have noticed that the Councilor had taken off down a different hallway further back and that she'd been walking with York and Maine past the med-bay. The voice of the other AI, however, made Nevada freeze and brought her back to down to Earth... or back down to the _Mother of Invention_, rather. Kappa still whimpered in the back of her mind, guilt, fear and... something else eating him up.

But the strange appearance of this new AI interested both of them, so why not talk?

"I have no need of assistance, Zeta," Nevada replied politely in the tone she reserved for new people. "But thank you."

York and Maine seemed interested in the A.I as well, having never seen her before. Sigma was just as curious. Delta was not, and kept his distance from her.

He was all to familiar with the Zeta A.I.

_**Interesting. Are you a shipboard AI? Like F.I.L.S.S?**_

Zeta momentarily moved her attention to Sigma, before turning back to Nevada and York.

**We are not "F.I.L.S.S". We are not bound to this ship as she is. We are Zeta.**

York decided to break the awkwardness barrier first.

"Well, I'm-"

**Agent York. Yes. We know from Delta.**

York tried to find Delta, only to find he had disappeared. Zeta turned to Nevada, instead.

**And who might you be? We have not met you before.**

At that point, Zeta moved around Nevada's head twice, almost as if she was looking for something. Probably wondering where Kappa was.

**You need not be afraid of Us, Little Brother. We mean you no harm, but We do wish very much to meet you.**

"I am Nevada," she introduced herself, feeling unsure about the AI's scrutiny and appearance but willing to give the benefit of the doubt. "Kappa is quite... upset at the moment." Kappa sent another wave of emotion at her -grief, mainly, but suspicion as well. Nevada tried to send a calming influence back. Nevada and Kappa rarely spoke in words, these days, just emotions that they had learned to read so well.

**Why is our Little Brother upset? May we speak with him?**

Nevada hesitated, unsure how to respond. Beta's death was quite clearly the reason Kappa was upset... it felt like there was something else, but mainly that. Was she allowed to tell everyone about what had happened? Mu and Nu might be public knowledge, but still...

York and Maine seemed determined to leave it up to her, being no help at all.

"_Agent Nevada, I believe it would be wise to analyze Kappa's behavior in front of other A.I._" Before Delta, York, or Maine could say anything more, Sigma interjected.

_**Delta is correct. Nu refused to interact with other A.I, and I believe the Director would allow this interaction just this once. Kappa is rather valuable, as are you. If Kappa follows Nu's path, then both of you are lost.**_

York sighed as Sigma finished. He always knew the best things to say...

"Hey, Zeta? You said you weren't like F.I.L.S.S, but if that's not it, then what are you?" Zeta pointed at the window that the Freelancers had stopped by. Inside, Agent Ohio was sleeping peacefully, but everyone knew that would end the moment she woke up. In the next bed, Samantha Paladray, the _new_ Agent Minnesota, was comatose on the bed.

**Our agent did not respond well to implantation.**

Nevada stared at the red-headed woman before slowly turning back to Zeta.

"You're _her_ AI," she murmured. Just as soon as it came, Nevada shook off the stigma. It really wasn't fair to judge an AI by their agent, especially a recently implanted one. Instead of continuing along that line, she asked aloud, "Kappa? Do you want to meet your... sister?"

A resounding negative came through loud and clear.

_Come on, Kappa,_ she urged. _They just want to help. You know the other AI -Gamma and Omega notwithstanding- don't want to hurt each other._

Kappa's form slowly appeared beside Nevada, his coloring more grey than silver.

As soon as Kappa appeared, Zeta immediately moved to the silver A.I, looking at him. She had taken up the stance the Director usually took. Back straight, stance wide, hands behind her back and shoulders straight.

**It is a pleasure to meet you, Little Brother. We do not know your program file. Would you please fill this gap in our memory?**

Sigma was also by Kappa, remaining silent. Delta kept his distance, but kept his view on Kappa. He had told the Director what would happen if Zeta was implanted, but the Director had done so anyways.

Kappa hesitated, his form looking like storm clouds. He moved closer to Nevada before speaking.

"_I am Kappa, s-sister,_" he said, his desire to be kind -especially towards someone new, with no friends yet- overriding his fear. "_It is nice to meet you._"

**We are pleased to meet you, Kappa. We like that name. It speaks of compassion as well as innocence. **_**Very**_** nice.**

Zeta moved towards the window, guiltily watching her incapacitated agent. Sigma moved into Kappa's view, intent on analyzing the A.I, regardless of how he "felt" about it.

_**Tell me, Kappa. How do you feel?**_

"_I... I am feeling..._" Here Kappa fumbled, desperately trying to figure out what he should say. Ada tried to calm him down within her mind, and it worked -his avatar lightening a little. She even provided him with a list of words that she would use to describe what she was sensing from him. "_Upset... and confused._"

York and Maine just looked at each other, unsure if they should stop this, or allow it. They had both seen what a self-destructing A.I could do, and they didn't want Nevada to end up like Ohio... _Nobody_ deserved that fate.

_**I can understand why you'd be upset. You should not have had to go through that.**_

Sigma "placed" his hand on Kappa's shoulder, showing the A.I. that Sigma was there for him... What Kappa didn't know was the reasons behind it. Zeta, still turned towards her agent, turned her head slightly, watching Kappa out of the corner of her eye.

**Why are you confused?**

Kappa paused again. The usually weren't the greatest at explaining their emotions, and while Kappa was probably better than most, he still had some issues...

"_Why... why would Beta do this? Why couldn't I help her?_"

"Kap..." Nevada murmured, placing him in the mental equivalent of a hug. While Kappa wished he could hug Ada properly, he enjoyed what he could get. It made him feel warm.

Zeta seemed to consider Kappa's answer for a moment. Inside of the medbay, Samantha spasmed for a quick second, and her heart monitor beeped loudly, confusing a nearby doctor (probably Ida, who had been reluctantly assigned to the red haired woman) before returning to normal.

**Beta... Yes. Our dear Sister... One can only imagine what she must have been through, losing her agent... Tell me, Kappa, what would you have done if you had lost Nevada?**

"_Zeta, I do not believe it is fair to ask Kappa that, as he and Beta had significantly different pro-_"

_**On the contrary, Delta, it is a good question. How else will we properly know if Kappa is going along Nu's path or not?**_

York sighed, leaning close to Nevada, whispering softly.

"You ever get the feeling that Sigma's got some sort of hidden agenda or something?"

"All the time," Nevada whispered back.

Kappa seemed very uncomfortable with all the attention being directed at him and, like a small child hiding behind its mother, drifted even further towards Nevada, at this point nearly standing on her shoulder.

"_I would not hurt myself,_" he said decidedly. "_Because Ada wouldn't want that._"

**Yes... **_**you**_** wouldn't... Now try to think how Beta felt.**

York looked at the time on the wall.

"Come on, Ada. I'd better get you to your room before Illinois finds out you were up late"

_**Just a moment, York. What did she look like, Kappa? Right before-**_

"Sigma! Delta! Zeta! Offline!" The A.I immediately winked out when the Director stormed down the hall.

"Kappa, I want you to tell me _exactly_ what you and Beta talked about before she deleted herself."

"Sir!" the two Freelancer capable of speech chimed. Maine grunted something to that effect.

The Director ignored them with a wave of his hand and focused on Kappa.

"Kappa, tell me _precisely_ what Beta told you," he barked again, narrowing his eyes at the AI's silence.

"_Sh-sh-she-_"

"Director, sir," Nevada interjected calmly, the task of keeping Kappa calm in the presence of the demanding Director becoming draining, "With all due respect, I believe we both know Kappa does not respond well to... harsher questions."

"When I want your opinion, Nevada, I will ask for it! I do not have the time to deal with childish nonsense. Kappa, the files." Nevada would be able to see the black bags under the Director's eyes.

All of the medical bays glass windows were soundproofed, so all of the people outside were momentarily distracted upon seeing Agent Ida in a shouting match with... _North_? In the meantime, Kappa's avatar teleported from Nevada's side to directly in front of her, even appearing a little larger -another attempt at shielding his Freelancer from harm.

"_She told me what she was going to do with herself,_" Kappa mumbled, meeting the Director's eyes only so that no one else had to.

The Director turned to Kappa slightly, getting agitated.

"Tell me what she said, Kappa."

"_'August 24. 7PM. New Mombasa Spaceport',_" Kappa droned, voicing the information he was given rather than tell it in his own words. Back to his normal voice, he continued. "_This likely has something to do with the people CT was working with._"

"That will be all, Kappa... The rest of you are dismissed..." With that, The Director left. Maine had left a while ago, and York was now restraining North while someone restrained Ida (Massa?). Zeta watched them argue.

**Tell me, Nevada. Why do people argue over such trivial things like my agent being kept in her room instead of the medical bay?**

Nevada considered Zeta's question for a moment, before shrugging and replying, "I guess they just have different ideas for what's best for her. People can get very, um, upset when it comes to the wellbeing of their... friends."

It was Kappa's turn to try to keep Nevada calm as ugly, roiling anger rose in her gut. But she kept it down, ignored it. No need to take it out on the AI.

**We see... Thank you, Agent Nevada. We should go and help the medic in charge of Our agent's well-being. We wish you a good night**

Zeta flickered out as North came out of the medical bay. He wasn't in armor, meaning he had actually been off-duty for once, but the trace of black bags under his eyes were unmistakable.

"Hey, Ada... Shouldn't you be in bed? I'll walk you there if I need to..." Delta quickly appeared, making sure to stay behind Nevada so that North couldn't see him. For once, the A.I spoke quietly.

"_Agent North Dakota has not slept for 3 cycles, Nevada, and he has been avoiding his room._" All in all, it made sense. North had basically taken Minnesota under his wing when he arrived, and the two shared a room with Washington for a fairly long time. It only made sense that North refused to go to his room anymore.

"North, I _am_ 21..." Nevada reminded him. "I think I can stay up a little late. Besides... I don't think you're one to talk about staying up past your bedtime."

Nevada looked through the window to the medbay again, to see a grouchy York speaking to a tired-looking Massa and an incensed Ida.

"Yeah... Guess you're right..." North watched through the window, looking past York and Ida to see the monitors hooked up to Sam. As he did, he looked... Upset?

"You know... She wasn't always as bad as she is now..."

Nevada clenched and unclenched her hands, thankful that he was staring at Sam rather than looking at her.

"You'll have to forgive me if I'm not too concerned about how she used to be," Nevada muttered. That's the thing about first impressions: you only get to make one. Sam had made hers.

_Murderer._

North seemed to laugh a little at Nevada's response.

"You even _act _like the old Nevada... But still, Ada, she's nicer than you think... She just has ... trust issues..." North knew that York, Wyoming, and South would agree with him as they had known her quite well (and were possibly the only people she ever talked to).

In the med bay, York and Ida had finally calmed down, and it appeared as though York had already left. Ida was currently tending to Ohio, who had recently woken up. It was a miracle she hadn't started scre-

North cringed as Ohio loudly shrieked, breaking down into tears. One of the doctors tampered with a dial, and soon all was quiet as he soundproofed the room again. Nu hadn't left the world in a peaceful way, and had completely ravaged Ohio's mind. She was a kind woman (even if she never told anyone how old she was). She'd been one of the more experienced Freelancers, and had apparently been placed 4th on the leader boards, but now...

"I don't mean to sound cruel or anything, but Ohio needs to be put out of her misery... Living in constant fear is no way to live at all..." North made for the hallway to the Freelancer's quarters, stopping to look at Nevada.

"You coming? Illinois is probably wondering where you are by now..."

Nevada didn't respond right away, instead staring at the silent Samantha and equally silent (although eerily so, as it was obvious she was making a lot of noise) Ohio. Kappa murmured something in the back of her head, trying to get her to go with North and forget about the two in the medbay.

She walked away. Kappa didn't need any more trauma today.

"North? What was she... or he, I suppose, like? The old Nevada? What happened to them?" she asked, avoiding any subject pertaining to Sam while still asking something that had been on her mind for a while.

As for Illinois, he wouldn't be worrying too much. Hopefully.

North smiled for a brief second before frowning. The previous Nevada, a man in his late thirties, had been... incredible. He'd known when it was time to work and when it was time to relax, he'd been prepared for almost anything (whether it was in combat or conversation), and he'd cared for all of the other freelancers. He'd been that father figure to the others, and had always helped the newer freelancers find there place... and that was exactly what North told Nevada when she asked.

Then came the left field question.

_What had happened to him?_

North looked relatively uncomfortable with that question. Nevada had not, under iany/i circumstances, died the way he deserved to die. His shields had gone down during a fire fight, and Wash had gotten shot in the leg behind a totaled car. Nevada had gone with Wyoming to get him, and he sent Wyoming back with Wash so he could distract the Scorpion tank that had showed up, giving them time to get away. He activated his armor enhancement, which the _new_ Nevada now had, as the tank fired. It should have saved him...

It didn't.

The enhancement gave out as the shot made contact. Nevada wasn't blown to pieces, but the left side of his body was gone. They couldn't even get to him. They couldn't even get a shot in to put him out of his misery.

He'd been left there to suffer for 5 minutes before that tank had left, thinking they were all dead.

That had been true for at least one of them, at any rate.

"He'd gone to sleep one night... Didn't wake up the next. We still don't know how..." A little white lie, but Nevada didn't need to know the truth of how her predecessor had died.

Nevada got the feeling she was being lied to. Contrary to what many of the Freelancers thought, she wasn't quite as silly and gullible as she came across as -she might be a ibit/i, but not as much as they thought. However, North must've lied for a reason. If he didn't want to discuss what had happened to him, she wouldn't press the matter.

"He sounds more like Illinois than me," Nevada told him, knowing full well she was no father (or mother, rather) figure to anyone.

A little shift in her mind contradicted her. She smiled a little. Ok, so she was a mother figure to someone.

North was tempted to tell her the truth, but simply couldn't. They soon reached the hallway that lead to North's room, opposite of the one from Nevada's.

"See you later, Ada. Have a good sleep." North left, passing his room to go straight to the gym. When Nevada got to her door, the first thing she noticed was the box sitting next to her door. There was no label or anything. Just a closed cardboard box with the UNSC's clearance stamp. Agent New Jersey was currently examining said box, trying to figure out what might be inside.

"Hey, look who's here!" New Jersey grinned as he saw her, gesturing at the box, "Someone left you a present, Ada."

"Oh?" she murmured, suddenly feeling very tired. She crouched down next to the box to examine it. There was no note saying who it was from. "And you haven't opened it yet?"

New Jersey shrugged, still grinning. "I thought about it, but what kind of friend would I be if I opened something addressed to you?" He leaned against the wall next to her door, his grin waning slightly. "In other news, Illinois was worried about you. Thought the Director was givin' you heat over... whatever happened with... Sota," New Jersey fumbled the last part, uncomfortable with the topic.

"He's always worried," Nevada replied in a weak and half-hearted attempt at a joke. New Jersey, however, latched onto the change of subject."

"What'd you expect from the old man? Honestly, he's so overprotective," New Jersey laughed. "Hey, you gonna open the box?"

Nevada looked at it, lifting it up as she stood. "Um, maybe tomorrow. I'm too tired to really think about it tonight."

"That's cool," New Jersey shrugged. "I just want to be there when you do. Night, Ada!"

New Jersey wandered off in the direction of his own room, leaving Nevada to enter hers and leave the box on the table by her bed. She promptly collapsed, the bed groaning in protest as the weight of her armor was forced onto it. She threw her helmet to the other side of the room and prepared to change.

"You never _did_ answer my question."

Leaning against the door was Agent Texas, looking at Nevada. She was still in her armor, but had at least removed her helmet, and was now looking at Nevada expectantly.

"You know I'm not going to leave until I get one, Nevada, so save yourself the trouble."

Nevada smiled obliviously. "Which question, Texas? You asked me a couple, I think."

Interestingly enough, Texas and Nevada had their similarities in appearance. Both had short hair cut into roughly the same style, both had big green eyes, and both had pale skin from the armour separating them from the sun. The main difference was Texas looked her age and strength.

A fact she used to her advantage now, fixing Nevada with a cold stare that promised she would take no cute little acts.

"Why were you willing to let him kill you, _kid_," she growled, holding herself high and looking down at the younger woman.

Nevada sighed, meeting Texas' glare tiredly. "Agent Texas, I understand your priorities may be different," she began, walking over and backing Texas into the hallway, "but I will die before I turn on my friends, whether they're traitors or not."

Texas smacked Nevada's hand away from the door's button, preventing her from closing it.

"A soldier has to be prepared to make sacrifices," she hissed.

"But I'm not a soldier, am I?" Nevada laughed bitterly. "I'm a Freelancer. And aren't we so much more special."

Nevada didn't bother trying to close the door again, instead sitting down on her bed once more and looking up at Texas.

"Anything else, _Number One_?"

With speed Nevada probably wouldn't understand for a _very_ long time, Texas' hand (her _armored_ hand, mind you) made contact with her cheek, leaving a rather red mark on the girl's face as well as a cut.

"You'd better figure out who's your friend and who's your enemy, _Agent_ Nevada, or else someone's going to pick it for you." Texas looked at Nevada, and she could feel that familiar darkness clinging to the back of her mind.

**See how frail she is? An easy kill. Just one punch. One twist of the neck. One stab in the dark. A simple motion of the-**

Allison shook her head, shaking off her A.I's whispers. She took a final glance at Nevada before leaving. Further down the hallway, Wash had the misfortune to get in her way, and was promptly punched in the face. He quickly fell to the floor holding his now broken nose.

Nevada breathed heavily, her cheek more than stinging as she stayed in the position Texas had left her in -sprawled onto her bed, head narrowly avoiding the wall.

Kappa whimpered in the back of her mind and she was far too exhausted to offer any emotional support. She tried to show him she wasn't hurt that bad, that Texas hadn't really done any damage. It didn't work.

In a moment of pure 'why the heck not' Nevada grabbed onto the box next to her bed and pulled it open.

She had no idea how to react to its contents, so Nevada placed the box back, and fell against her bed. She would think in the morning.

Inside of the box, was a gun. Nothing special about it. Just an unloaded, standard issue pistol. On op of the gun, however, was a hastily note written on a torn piece of paper.

_Don't Trust Him._


	3. Testing Initiative

**Time: 12:30 PM**

**Location: RT-636 "****_Mother of Invention_****"**

The Director's eyes snapped open, and he immediately sat up in his bed,breathing heavily. It was just a dream... No. Not _just_ a dream. It was _that_ dream again. The same one that had haunted him for so long... Had haunted him for the vast majority of his life...

_Allison..._

Shaking away the unwanted memories for the time being, the Director looked at his still beeping alarm clock.

12:33 in the afternoon.

He'd slept in, a problem since there was so much that needed to get done, but so little time to do it. Shoving off the covers, the Director slowly stood and got dressed, noticing the stiffness plaguing his sore bones and muscles. After shutting off his alarm clock, the Director left his quarters, entering the small hallway that lead to the elevator.

"F.I.L.S.S, how many agents have reported in this morning?"

_15 agents have reported in, Director_

Leonard Church scowled, knowing full well that this would happen anytime he slept in.

"Any agents that are still asleep are to be woken up _at once_, F.I.L.S.S, by any means necessary." snapped the Director has he entered the elevator and pushed the button for C-Deck.

_Yes, Director. Initiating protocol four dash five seven_

The Director smiled as the elevator closed, beginning it's descent.

All across the "_Mother of Invention_", any freelancers that had still been sleeping were quite suddenly (and painfully) woken up as F.I.L.S.S turned on all of the lights across the ship to their absolute brightest.

While other freelancers were being blinded, Samantha Paladray, now Agent Minnesota, was lifting weights in the 636's gym on D-Deck while agent Maine spotted her. In a flash of red, orange, and yellow flames, Maine's A.I, Sigma,appeared, floating next to Samantha's head.

**Agent Maine and I are surprised that you are actually in the gym, given your weak immune system as well as your current... ****_condition_****.**

Samantha merely huffed at the A.I, lifting the weight as far as her arms could go before bringing it back down. Her implantation had not gone as planned, and had left her comatose for three straight days. When she'd woken up, her immune system was slightly stronger thanks to the BioTech Microchip that had been implanted along with her A.I, Zeta. She'd been checked out by the medical staff almost immediately (as per the Director's orders, of course). The Director then ordered Zeta to limit her operating capacity, slowly increasing it as Samantha became accustomed to the A.I sharing her brain.

"Why would I care if you're surprised or not? In fact, why do you even care to begin with?"

**Everyone hates you because of what you did to the ****_former_**** agent Minnesota. ****_We_**** have no such issues. In fact, I commend you on your ambition, as well as your creativity in covering up the fact that you were the cause of his death.**

Samantha was about to say something fairly nasty as a retort until the intercoms crackled to life.

"Agents York, Minnesota, and Kentucky. You are to report to the training room on C-Deck, armored _and_ fully equipped, _immediately _." The intercom cut off, and Sam loudly groaned. She _hated_ her new armor. It was _far_ to tight around her chest (The pervert in armor processing had promised to get her the correct measurements). She set the weight back on it's stand and left to get her armor, muttering and cursing the entire way.

Back in the gym, Sigma smiled to himself as Maine placed a hand against his forehead, temporarily dazed by the sudden headache raging through his skull

* * *

In the mess hall, Kentucky looked up from the tray heaped high with food in front of him._ Now? Seriously? _

_You should go! Or he might get mad! I told you that trying to sneak in a second lunch was a bad idea!_

Kentucky looked up at the yellow-armored AI as he wrung his tiny hands nervously. "Rho. Calm yourself. He's the Director, not a snake." Kentucky looked back down at the tray longingly… _another time, perhaps._ He stood up and grabbed the satchel under his bench.

_What's in the bag?_ Rho asked nervously as Kentucky slung it over his shoulder.

"What else? _Toys!_" the agent shot a look at Rho that was unsettlingly similar to a kid on Christmas morning.

_**Bombs?**__ You're toting __**Bombs**__ around? Have you finally gone out of your tiny, concussed __**head**__?_

Kentucky chuckled at the thought. "Little man, I went out for lunch a long ways back." He put his helmet on as he walked. "But you can rest easy this time. These are purely as per the Director's orders."

_Huh? Oh God, what's he need all of __**that**__ for?_

"Not quite sure. Apparently it's gonna help test out a new armor enhancement." Kentucky shrugged blithely.

Rho stood stark still as his agent walked down the hallway. _My condolences to that unfortunate person,_ he murmured as Kentucky approached the prep-room. _So he gave you clearance to get this by security… right?_ Kentucky remained silent. _Right?_

Kentucky turned to look at Rho. "You know, I _knew_ I forgot something this morning."

_Oh no, not this again…_

* * *

Samantha arrived at the training room's viewing deck in a better mood then she had left the gym in. The perver- _nice guy_, at armor processing had pulled through, getting her a substantially better fitting armor, although she was disappointed that it was all standard issue Mark VI variant armor. She walked up to the Director, who was just finishing briefing York and Delta on the situation. Samantha's A.I, Zeta, faded into view.

"You wanted something, sir?"

York, not having yet seen Samantha's A.I, looked closely at her, the A.I looking back at him. After fully examining Zeta, York went back to speaking with Delta. The Director turned to Samantha, his usual frown adorning his face.

"You will be taking the floor in order to test your new armor enhancement. We're only missing the final piece." One did not need to be an expert to determine that the Director was referring to Kentucky.

Not two moments had passed since the thought crossed Samantha's mind than a man in green and blue armor burst into the training hall, followed closely by an irate marine and a rather frantic yellow light. "Not to worry, gentlemen, the secret ingredient has arrived!" Kentucky hollered, moments before the marine tackled him to the ground. "Woah, _Jim,_ have you been_ working out?_"

"Shut up freak," The marine snapped back.

_I __**told **__you there'd be trouble! _Rho whined, even as the marine picked up Kentucky by the back of his collar. Around the room, various people either shook their heads or smacked their hands against their visors. The Director, however, simply gave Kentucky a look that could probably spot-weld steel.

He somehow managed to keep his composure, and began doling out orders. "Guardsman O'Neil, would you be so kind as to release my agent. I will _ensure_ that he fills out the proper papers for this _latest infraction._" The marine looked at his charge doubtfully, and then let him go.

"It's okay, Jim. You'll get 'em next time!" Kentucky quipped as he dusted off his suit.

"Fuck you." The marine fumed as he walked away.

"Oh, come now, you'll never get a girlwith that attitude!" Kentucky called after him. A single finger was the only reply he received.

The Director had had enough. _"Kentucky."_ He intoned. The agent turned to face him, even as Rho hid behind his helmet. A witty retort bubbled up inside Kentucky's mind, which he quickly choked down. Experience had taught him that the Director's wrath was _not_ a bomb to be detonated.

"Yes sir, sorry sir. Shall we begin the test?" Kentucky inquired sheepishly. He walked over to a satchel he had dropped when he'd been tackled and pulled it open. Then he spread out an arrangement of items that were widely varied and all wired to blow. "what did you have in mind?"

"All of them. Get to the training floor, _now_. Preferably _before_ I lose my patience with you, _Agent_" The Director was practically one step away from throttling Kentucky where he stood.

Professionally, of course.

Samantha made to leave as well, but the Director quickly stopped her.

"When you get down the the training floor you are to remove your armor for the start of the test, do I make myself clear?" Samantha gawked at the Director. He wanted _her_ to not only go into the training room with a bomb-loving asshole, but he wanted her to do these tests _without armor_?!

This _had_ to be payback for clogging his toilet... It just _had_ to be...

Sighing, Samantha made her way down to the training floor, standing on the opposite side of the room from Kentucky. Upstairs, the Director spoke calmly.

"F.I.L.S.S, deactivate the magnetic locks on agent Minnesota's armor."

_Yes, Director. Releasing armor._

Samantha heard the clicks on her armor and immediately began shedding it, throwing it all off to the side. By the time she was finished, she was in the protective skintight suit that all Freelancer's wore beneath their armor.

If the Director hadn't been there with him, York would have hollered at Samantha's slim figure and generously sized bust.

Delta soon appeared beside the Director, who nodded at the green A.I.

"Activate Kinetic Barrier."

_Acknowledged_

In a moments notice, Samantha saw a silver, grid like bubble shield form around her, quickly adjusting so it wasn't a bubble, but instead mimicked her form before fading. The Director activated the intercom.

"Agent Kentucky. You are too hit Samantha with _one_ punch. Proceed."

"Copy. Rho, warm up the Jump Drive. Set it to, hmmm, twelve percent."

_Are you sure?_

"Aren't I always?" Kentucky assured him. There was a high-pitched sound like a camera's flash charging up, and then Kentucky was sprinting at her, moving slightly faster than his stride and number of steps suggested he should have been able to. He slapped his fist against his palm as he approached, cocked back his arm, and threw a punch right at Samantha's face using all of his momentum.

Samantha dodged the punch desperately, knowing full well what that enhancement was capable of. Upstairs, the Director was _fuming_. He jammed his finger on the intercom button hard enough that York thought he might break it.

"Agent Kentucky! You are more than aware that you are strictly _forbidden_ from using that enhancement during training scenarios, do I make myself _clear_?!"

"F.I.L.S.S, lock down agent Kentucky's enhancement until this test is over..."

_Understood, Director._

Kentucky sighed in frustration as he felt the space around him normalizing.

_I tried to warn you… _

_You little yellow cockbite..._ Kentucky recovered his stance, and threw a left hook aimed at his target's sternum

Samantha hadn't seen the hit coming, but when it did, she winced.

Only too notice that he'd never made contact.

Kentucky's fist was now pushing against an area of the now visible silver grid, easily keeping the agent's fist at bay.

"… Huh?" Kentucky pressed his fist against the grid and was met with quite solid resistance. "Um…" he threw another punch, which met with the same result, then just took to poking at the grid in curiosity. "… okay, that's just freakin' _cool._"

_I want one,_ Rho muttered.

"Quiet, you."

Samantha, growing tired of the Freelancers absolute _childish_ behavior, punched him in his helmet-

-Which met the barrier head on. All across her body the silver grid moved to the point of impact before, quite literally, detonating in a flash of silver, sending Kentucky sliding into the wall. Samantha blinked, wondering what the hell this enhancement was capable of doing.

"Good work. Agent Minnesota, proceed to place your armor on. Agent Kentucky... Await further instruction." The Director smiled at Samantha's use of the Kinetic Barrier engine, intentional or not.

Kentucky blinked twice before standing up. _It exploded. She punched me in the head, and her fist __**exploded**_. Feeling just a mite envious, he stood up shakily and tapped the side of his helmet. "Now _that_ is a nice trick! We should hang out sometime. I know this great demo spot: open views, scrapped-out car carcasses, could be fun! _Great_ for stress relief."

Rho just shook his head in exasperation as Kentucky's shield recharged.

Samantha finished applying her armor, shields finally recharging to full strength a moment later.

"Agent Kentucky, you are too start with small explosives, one at a time, until Samantha's shields go down. Begin" Down below, Sam prepared herself for the oncoming bombardment of explosives. In her head, Zeta did as well.

"Zeta, determine trajectories and location of approximate detonation. Draw power from all unnecessary systems. Nothing gets through." Zeta showed up by her agent moments later, nodding sharply.

_We understand and will comply_

Rho let out a small squeak of surprise upon seeing Zeta, and promptly hit behind Kentucky's helmet again.

"You are such a pansy." Kentucky snipped, before depressing the primer on his first grenade. _Said it once, I'll say it again: I love my job_. Now that he was working with explosives, he was behaving much more precisely. He tossed out the 7 frags, one by one, not quite as fast as he could but _certainly_ not going soft on his foe. He threw over handed, underhanded, sidearm, he even threw in a sinker for good luck. And he watched on slightly disturbed as blast after blast was successfully deflected.

The Director looked on, impressed by how Zeta and Samantha's innovative use of the shielding system. Only using it when needed.

"Delta. Drop shield strength by thirty-five percent."

_Acknowledged. Decreasing shield strength._

Samantha and Zeta took note of the drop in shields almost immediately when a stray (but harmless) piece of shrapnel had pinged off of Sam's armor.

"Zeta. Draw from all remaining non-critical systems. Prioritize and ignore the smaller pieces of shrapnel."

_Compensating._

In mere moments, the smaller, harmless pieces of shrapnel were pinging off of Samantha's armor, while the bigger chunks were being rebounded off of the shield, small, silver grids popping in and out of existence every few moments.

Growing impatient, Kentucky picked up the pace, striping grenades from his armor with almost mechanical efficiency and speed. And then when Kentucky reached for his next charge, he was met with a surprise. He has run out of grenades. He, Agent Kentucky, _Professional Boombringer_, had run out of hand grenades. On one target. One squishy infantry target. He would probably have felt insulted if he weren't so damn impressed.

_Quite efficient_, Rho chimed in.

"I know, right?" Kentucky uttered. _Well, at least I have the others_. He thought as he looked in his satchel.

Samantha breathed a sigh of relief when Kentucky had run out of grenades. Her suit gradually recharged what power she had used up, quickly revitalizing her.

"Good job, Zeta..."

_Thank you._

"Good work, Agents. Now, the next test. Delta? Shields at maximum capacity."

_Complying_

"Agent Kentucky, as much as I'll regret saying it... Open fire." Samantha's eyes went wide at the words.

"Zeta! Be ready for _anything_!"

_We are prepared for every possibility_

Kentucky's eyes also shot open at the order. They shone with a manic glee as he retrieved the remaining contents of the satchel: Tess, his fuel rod gun. Kentucky loaded a clip of high-explosive rounds. No shrapnel, no muss, no fuss. Just a _very_ powerful kaboom. He chuckled to himself as he took aim.

Rho jumped up, shocked. _No, no no, __**nononono.**__ Bad Kent! Bad!_

_Pchoom, pchoom, pchoom ,pchoom!_

The rockets sped forth, and flew true.

Samantha quickly dodged the initial burst of high explosive rounds, quickly getting on her feet and just _running_. She did _not_ want to get hit by one of those things. In her head, she thought of a fairly risky plan, but a plan nonetheless.

Harshly turning and staying low, Samantha rushed Kentucky, her kinetic barrier switching offline.

_Zeta, use the shield only to block his attacks!_

_We will comply_

Kentucky lined up the barrel of his weapon with care. He had one shot left, and he'd bet a certain exploding fist that he'd have one hell of a time trying to reload.

_Kent. KENT! At this rate, she'll be within a blast radius of you before you fire, JUST TAKE THE DAMNED SHOT! _Rho blubbered into his agent's earpiece.

"Fine, fuck it." Kentucky aimed at the ground in front of Samantha "Close enough!"

_Pchoom!_

Samantha... hadn't been expecting that. She'd thought he'd try to go for a punch, not shoot the damned ground. Unfortunately for Kentucky, however, the explosion made her lose her footing, propelling her forward, and while her fist didn't make contact with him, she was thrown straight into him head first.

The Kinetic Barrier, having absorbed as much energy as it could from the explosion, detonated when Samantha made contact with Kentucky, sending both of them gliding (Although Kentucky didn't have that far too travel, but instead broke through the door leading to the observation deck). Samantha went sliding across the floor, eventually hitting the wall. She was up momentarily, dazed and wobbling as she removed her helmet. On her chin were now three cuts, fresh and bloody.

Samantha slowly made her way over to Kentucky, pulling the pistol off of her hip. Zeta appeared next to Kentucky, curiously examining him. _Why does this human fly so much? Does he wish to be more like a bird?_

Kentucky didn't notice Samantha's approach at first. This was due partly to his being dazed from that particularly stupid shot, partly to a curious once-over of Zeta, and partly because of Rho's hasty retreat into his helmet, after which he whispered a droning rant of things like: _ohgodohgodohgodlookatherjust __**look**__athershe'sfreaking__**horrible! **__Ohgodshe'scaryas__**SigmaorOmegaeven**__! ohgoddon'tseemedon'tseeme! _

Then Kentucky noticed the slim figure closing in. And then he noticed the pistol in her hand. His first thought was _murder? Again?_ But as his mind cleared he realized _oh. Paint_. He quickly kicked Tess away from himself. The alien weapon was a bitch as far as removing paint from the inner workings went. He put up his hands to her in a gesture of submission. "That's okay, it's cool, it's cool, no bombs, see? Not even a dead man trigger today. We're all friends here right?"

Zeta was... surprised, by the Rho's sudden appearance. Even more so by how quick he had disappeared.

_We mean you no harm, Brother. We only wish to examine._

Sam finally arrived to where Kentucky had landed, crouching close to his face, intently listening to what he had to say. After long, she grabbed him by the collar of his armor, planting a soft (and short) kiss on the man's forehead, leaving a blood on his forehead.

"Of course we're all friends here..." Samantha roughly dropped Kentucky and stood up, quickly covering the agent in paint.

"... so it's only fair that I pay you back for trying to Jump-punch me." Samantha placed a finger on Kentucky's chest (after turning the agent on his back, of course.

"Next time you try that, by the way, I will _end_ you." Sam spit some blood that had collected in her mouth at the discarded alien weapon before leaving to collect her helmet.

Upstairs, York was finishing his laughing fit while the Director pushed down on the intercom.

"Whenever you are done fooling around, Agent Kentucky, we will begin the final test."

"Umm… okay" Kentucky muttered as he struggled a bit. "Just… give me… a… MINUTE!" he said this last part as he got enough of the paint off to stand up. As he peeled the rest of the immobilizing paint off of his suit, he heard the timid voice inside his head.

_You know, she really isn't that bad._

"Are you kidding? She spat on Tess!"

_Not her._ Kentucky then noticed the tiny video window that had opened up on his HUD. It was playing back images of Zeta.

"I keep trying to tell you, they're not all like Omega or Gamma. Remember Theta?"

_Yeah, I guess so…_

By then Kentucky had just about gotten all of the paint out of his joints. He looked up to face the Director. "Alright sir, what's for dessert?"

The Director looked at the two agents, smiling profoundly.

"F.I.L.S.S? Begin hand-to-hand training. Protocol Five dash Six Niner." After saying this, the Director left for the observation deck, sealing the entrance as he went. If Kentucky listened closely, he might have heard his armor's magnetic locks uncouple.

_Initiating Unarmored Hand-To-Hand Training_

On the other side of the room, Samantha had already managed to get her armor off, impatiently waiting for Kentucky.

"Mind hurrying it up? I don't have all day." Samantha was impatient at best, but when she had to wait for _this_ guy? Plus, she didn't like being in her mesh under-suit for extended periods of time, and even less when she had to fight in it. But now? Samantha was hating this. Not only did she have to fight in it, she had to fight a _guy_ in it. The last time she'd done that was against York, and she'd broken his nose for an "accidentally" placed punch.

He'd still admit today that it was totally worth it.

Rho appeared next to Kentucky as he sloughed his suit's armor off.

_So, what's the plan? I mean, that barrier's going to be one hell of a challenge…_

Kentucky, not wanting to give away his strategy, responded using their mental link. _Quite simple: to prevent detonating the barrier, we let her hit first._

Huh?

Well, to be more precise, we let her attack first. We block, dodge, and trick her into detonating on something that's

_**not**__ us._

That seems highly unlikely to work.

Well, it's either that, or we try grappling.

Both minds instantly rejected that idea. Many of the women freelancers were… touchy. His last sparring match where he'd tried grappling on a female involved South, three fractured ribs, and a minor concussion. "Just make sure to stay on top of any opportunities I miss, alright?" Kentucky approached the center of the ring and took up his fighting stance.

The Director smiled. This last test wasn't _just_ for Samantha. After looking at Kentucky's mission reports, the Director wanted to see how both Rho _and_ Kentucky would react in close quarters combat against multiple opponents, but he also wanted to see how Samantha would react if she had the advantage of numbers.

"Activate the test, F.I.L.S.S."

_Yes, Director._

Down on the training floor, Samantha cracked her neck. Then two of her walked to her side. Then two more, and two more, until Kentucky was eventually surrounded by a total of 10 female freelancers.

"Begin the test."

On the floor, all of the Samantha's immediately took up a defensive position, meaning Kentucky would have to take the first hit.

Kentucky started at this development. "Well. That's new." He immediately started dishing out orders to Rho. _Reduce motion-tracker range to a six-foot radius. Highlight and motion-blip attackers in yellow, do the same in green for any gaps you find in their defenses. If you can get me a top-down video feed, do that too._ Kentucky's HUD flickered several times as the requested changes were made. The tiny video feed that had previously displayed Zeta now looked down upon the fighting ring.

_Modifications made._

"Alright then, Sammy, let's see what you've got!" Kentucky howled as he leaped through the air… backwards. He clasped his hands together while airborne, then brought his left elbow down on the head of the Samantha behind him. Kentucky landed flat on his back while "Samantha" blinked out of existence, and he did a backwards roll and sprang back up into a ready stance, bouncing lightly.

"WHOOO boy, this is gonna end badly!"

All of the Samantha's moved in for a punch, but only one made contact, the rest blinking out of existence. Samantha made solid contact with Kentucky's jaw before dodging back, raising her defense.

"Come on, hot stuff! Where's that cocky attitude of yours? Or did that come off with the paint?"

"Ohoho, woman you haven't begun to _see_ my attitude!" Kentucky feinted a right hook to the face, then swept a kick at Samantha's legs, knocking her off her feet. "Who's cocky _now?_" he hollered as he lifted up his foot to stomp on her.

"Really now? "_woman_"?" Samantha caught his foot in her hand, smiling the entire time.

"_I_ think someone needs a little lesson on Kinetic Energy, don't you?" Samantha kicked Kentucky in the nuts as the Kinetic barrier exploded. When Kentucky was on the floor, she quickly sat on his stomach (Something that York would later tease her for by saying she had straddled Kentucky), and pinned him to the floor by his shoulders.

"So... who's the woman now?"

Kentucky then committed an act he would immediately come to regret. In a moment of frenzied instinct, he lashed out with his hand, and impacted a certain fleshy spot on Samantha's chest. If he were able to, Rho would have shit his pants. The soundproof glass did very little to hide York's renewed laughing fit.

_Oh no, not this again!_

Samantha was someone who enjoyed attention. Hell, she'd once jogged around the entirety of B-Deck (The largest deck on the "_Mother of Invention_") bare naked because York had given her $300 to do so. She didn't care if men (or women) looked at her body. She was proud of what her slim figure.

But when someone _touched_ her without her say so, Samantha got angry enough to make Carolina look like a harmless child.

"You... You _fucking __**PERVERT**_!" Samantha immediately rushed for Kentucky, now dead-set on killing him. The window occupying the small space of Kentucky's visor showed Zeta once more.

**We advise you run. It would be a shame to have to clean you off of the ceiling.**

Kentucky was instantly remorseful that he had got his jump-drive disabled. He bolted for the prep room, praying to whoever would listen that he would find what he was looking for.

_NOW LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE! YOU'VE KILLED US BOTH, YOU FOOLISH FUCK-UP!_

"Silence, you no-good whiner!"

Samantha saw exactly wear he was going, and only moved faster, tackling him when she got close enough. Once she stood up, she had Kentucky pinned to the ground, boot on his neck. In his current position, all Samantha would have to do is push down and his life would be over. Wash had done the _exact_ same thing, only with more crying, begging, and screaming for mercy.

"Now, do you know why you're currently on the ground?" Upstairs, the Director sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he slowly started making his way down to the floor. York and Delta followed, knowing full well that Kentucky technically deserved this.

Samantha lowered herself closer to Kentucky, keeping her boot on his throat. In a way, she looked beautiful...

But, you know, that was probably the one thing you would _not_ want to tell her after punching her breast.

"_I asked you a question, __**pervert**_"

"Okay. Okay. I'll say it." Kentucky managed to wheeze. "_I screwed up_. I screwed up _bad!_"

_Damn right you did!_ Rho had appeared on top of Kentucky's visor, peering through at his agent. _Now. What do you say to the murder-lady?_

"Rho. Quiet. Oh, and also it would be swell of you to _not _fucking murder me." Kentucky almost attempted a weak smile, but the rumors about the _old_ Minnesota caused that last quip to chill his blood a bit.

"Murder you? I'm not going to murder you. No... I'm just going to make you sleep for a very, _very_ long time..." She smiled sadistically as pushed down slowly. The Director entered the room.

"Do it and you know exactly what I'll do, Minnesota, or do you wish to see the nice therapy room again?" Samantha hesitated at this, and slowly stepped off of Kentucky. She didn't wait for the Director to say anything else, departing directly to the showers.

"Agent Kentucky. That was both inappropriate and stupid of you. Agent York would not have reacted as you had, and would have turned the tables in his favor." Kentucky rolled his was bullshit, whether the Director knew it or not. _Every_ Freelancer knew York would have taken every chance to cop a feel if he could.

"Go drop off your armor and shower, _immediately_. You're on guard tonight. Dismissed." With that, the Director left to go on look through the results of the tests.

In the showers, Samantha stood under one of the showers, listening to the two marines groaning on the floor. She _hated_ the showers near the training rooms. They were co-Ed, meaning someone was always trying to cop a feel. She left the water and entered the dressing area, stretching her now sore limbs.

A marine near the doorway saw Kentucky pass by and grabbed his attention.

"Dude! Check it out! Isn't that the best piece of ass you've ever seen? What I wouldn't give..."

Kentucky didn't feel like keeping his cheerful persona running anymore. He glared at the marine for a moment. Then he took off his helmet so that the marine could _see_ the glare. Then he grabbed the marine and expertly put him in a choke-hold. "That statement somehow managed to objectify a lady, completely disregard the last 15 minutes of my life, beg for an ass-whooping, _and _emphasize your status as a douche." He wrenched a little tighter on the hold for effect. "_APOLOGIZE!_"

"Okay, okay, shit, I'm sorry!" The marine gurgled. Kentucky let go of him and pushed him towards the exit. Then, without another word, he went over to his locker and changed into his standard issue pants and t-shirt.

_Don't you think you should apologize for that strike earlier? _Rho inquired.

"I think I'll get to that when she's calmed down a bit." Kentucky dropped the satchel containing Tess on top of his discarded armor. "Do me a favor and get someone down here to take this to the armory. I'm going to get lunch."

_Affirmative._

Samantha had been dressing herself when she overheard Kentucky yelling at the Marine by the door. When the marine had scampered off, Samantha walked over to Kentucky.

"Hey... That was pretty... I don't know, nice? I think that's the word. People usually don't do things like that for me, so, yeah... Thanks..." Samantha made sure nobody was looking before kissing Kentucky's cheek.

"Tell anyone I did that, and you're dead. Got it?" After making sure he understood, Samantha went back into the locker room to grab the remainder of her clothes.

Kentucky stood shocked for a few moments after she left. He could feel his face turning a good shade of red. He put his hand on the spot where her lips had touched, baffled.

_I have sent for the requested services_, Rho announced as he materialized besides Kentucky. The sudden appearance of the AI snapped Kentucky out of his stunned state. _Are you alright? Your vitals are showing an increase in activity._

"Totally fine. Nothing out of the ordinary. _At all._"

Rho, of course, immediately delved into Kentucky's mind. The agent had learned that the best way to discourage such intrusions was scare tactics. He dragged a specific image to the surface of his mind. _"Tell anyone I did that, and you're dead, got it?"_ Rho instantly materialized again.

"Well? Got it?" Kentucky asked with a smirk.

_Y-yeah. Got it._

"Cause, you know she'd actually do that-"

_No, it's alright. I get the picture._

"Good. Come on, let's go get lunch." And with that, the duo began the walk back to the mess hall.


End file.
